The Woods
by Lovelaney
Summary: Cole came into Kali's life suddenly, but with him brings a whole world of hurt for her. Romance, mystery... Let me know what you think. Good or bad - I'll read it all
1. Chapter 1

The breaking of sticks and crunching of leaves beneath my feet made me realize I really should've taken off these damn heals when I sprinted into the forest... But there was no way I could stop just to take them off now. I felt my body hit the ground before I knew I tripped and heard him coming up fast behind me. I rolled over on my back and looked up as I saw his shadow approaching me faster. I did not feel scared even though I know I should. I moved backwards, ignoring the pain of sticks digging into my back.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life you little bitch." I heard him mumble. He was close. Too close. My dress caught on something and ripped. I tried to slide backwards and pulled at it trying to rip it free as he got closer. I pulled off my heal and chucked it with as much force as I had lying there on the ground. I saw it sparkling in the moon light as it hurtled toward him. He caught right out of the air. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up and I knew my life was basically over. He stood over me holding my shoe in one hand and something bulky in the other. I saw him smiling like he took pleasure in what he was about to do. Which he probably did. He swung the object toward my head, a scream trapped in my throat, and then… total darkness.

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><p>My face was bright red. I could feel it. Why the school district thinks it's smart to put a bunch of high school boys and girls in the same sex education class is beyond me. I was standing in the front of the room as our teacher Mr. Louis handed me an unopened condom… and a banana. <em>You have got to be kidding me<em>. I thought to myself. The only reason he's making me do this is because I never participate and text and read in class. I heard him say something to me under his breath.

"_Just do this and I won't dock your participation points for the rest of the semester Miss Norrison." _I rolled my eyes at this and turned around to face the class and felt my face get a million and three times brighter and hotter than it already was. The class burst into an automatic uproar of laughter. I glanced at Mr. Louis and he had a slight grin of entertainment on his face. I felt so vulnerable standing there… Not to mention awkward. I sucked in a deep breath and tucked the banana under my arm and started opening the little squared package when the door to the classroom opened. Our secretary Ms. Laurie peeked her head in and looked from the banana to my face to Mr. Louis, her face looking a little embarrassed.

"Um…" she cleared her throat, " Mr. Louis could I see you in the hall real quickly?" He frowned, and followed her out into the hall and shut the door behind him. Someone yelled out. "Well hey Kali how bout you try it out on me instead!" the class erupted in loud obnoxious laughter and a few guys high-fived each other. Mr. Louis came back in and I sighed a sigh of relief. I looked up at him and saw that someone followed him inside the class. He closed the door and looked right at me. He was pretty tall… Probably taller than most guys at my school. He was wearing a leather jacket and a beanie that covered his shaggy brownish hair. I felt my face flush again as we held eye contact probably a little longer than needed and shifted my gaze to the condom in my hand which made me blush even more because I knew he saw what I was holding. I don't know why, but it made me even more self conscious that this new boy saw me doing this ridiculous task for a dumb grade.

"Class! Settle down and listen up!" the class fell silent, "we have a new student. His name is Cole Broadman and he has transferred here from Northside. I expect each and every one of you to give him a warm welcome." There were grumbles from around the class. Mr. Louis started up again to my horror, "Alright! So! Where were – ah yes Kali. Please continue." He smiled that creepy smile again as I saw the new boy hike up his backpack and walk down the row of desks to the back and take his seat next to mine. I was so irritated and pissed off. I tore open the package, shoved it on the banana and loudly set it down on Mr. Louis' desk. I turned and heard fake grumbles of pain from the stupidly-immature guys in the class from what I just did to the banana. I rolled my eyes and sat down in my desk and leaned over to get my bag from under my desk. I pulled it up and everything spilled out from it. I kneeled down on the floor as the bell rand and started picking things up as people left the class room. Someone brush against my arm as I saw Cole kneel down and start to help me pick things up. I looked up at him, my eyes locking again with his dark forest green eyes and the corners of his mouth turned up, half smiling at me. I looked back down mumbling a thank you and pushed the hair out of my eyes, gathering the rest of my stuff and stood up with Cole following closely behind. I felt Mr. Louis' eyes on us as we walked out.

"Well Kali, since you and our new student have been getting along _so _well, I would greatly appreciate it if you showed him the ropes around here. Let him get the hang of things for a while, yes? Have a good rest of the day you two." I could feel his gaze linger on me as we walked out the door.

I didn't know what else to do so I turned towards Cole and my eyes drifted to his. I seriously could not stop looking at them. He spoke up, "well, since you're my personal tour guide, you may need to know where you're taking me." He smiled as he dug his schedule out of his pocket and handed it to me. Was it me or was there a spark between us when he touched my hand? _Okay, _I thought to myself, _I am completely losing it. _I unfolded his crumpled schedule and looked over it. We had every class together except PE… which meant he had to be pretty smart because I have all AP honors classes. I laughed to myself and told him all the classes we had together. "We MUST be soul mates then!" he said laughing and I looked up at him blushing and smiling. He winked at me and the fire alarm went blaring. I covered my ears and we walked out side by side toward the door, outside to the parking lot.

It was about two feet from the door when I remembered it was probably below freezing and I instantly started shivering as we walked outside. As the thought of me freezing to death before knowing what would ever happen with Cole and me, I felt a warm soft fabric slide around my shoulders. It was, of course, Cole's jacket. He had to have been as cold as I was, but didn't show it. Honestly after meeting this kid about fifteen minutes ago, I think I was falling a little too hard. I shook the thought of us out of my head and kept walking. Even with the jacket around me, I felt my face getting red from the cold. I felt Cole nudge me. He whispered, "you know," I looked over at him and he was staring at me "you look super adorable when you're cheeks are all red." And winked at me as my face got red hot instead of cold. I heard him chuckle to himself under his breath, and it made me smile.

"KALI! They must be 'effing inSANE girl if they decide to call a fire drill in the MIDDLE OF JANUARY!" Daz shouted out to me as she came running towards Cole and I, her blonde hair blowing around her face. I had to laugh at her. She would be the only person in the world I know that would wear a dress and cowboy boots like it was summer - in the middle of winter. I glanced over at Cole and saw he had taken out his iPod and was scrolling through songs. My eyes wandered down his arms and up to his biceps. He so worked out… A lot from the looks of how ripped he was, and how his body looked under the tight black tee shirt, an image popped into my head of him running down the street shirtless – "GIRL!" Daz hissed at me, interrupting me mid-thought and I turned to her and smiled and laughed to my self. She nodded her head toward Cole and gave me a questioning look. "Tell you later." I said under my breath so only she could hear. She looked around nodding and spotted another group of her many friends. She slapped my shoulder, looked up Cole, winked at me and ran off toward another group of people. Teachers started shouting, telling everyone it was okay to go back inside. I looked over at Cole and he had his ipod put away and was looking at me with his gorgeous eyes. "Alright boss, where we going next?" he said flirtatiously. We spent the rest of the day together until PE when he said he would find me tomorrow. I could feel his gaze linger on me more than needed until I rounded the corner to go into the gym.

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><p><strong>This is my first story that I've published to FanFiction... Just a heads up in case you think it's childish!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

PE was dumb as usual and I changed back into my school clothes and realized I still had Cole's jacket. I picked it up and put it back on. It smelled like winter and some kind of spice. I was crazy delicious smelling. I tried looking for him after the final bell rang but I couldn't find him in the crowds of people heading home. I would just give it to him tomorrow. I headed to ol' Bessy, my old tin can of a truck. I yanked open the door and jumped in, put the keys in the ignition and rubbed my hands together while the cab heated up. My phone beeped saying I had a message and I pulled it out and opened it as a little piece of paper fluttered out. I picked it up and turned it over. I was a phone number and was signed by Cole. He must have slipped it in there when he handed it to me in sex ed… I smiled, put it in my pocket and looked up as I saw Cole pass in front of my truck. He looked right at me, smiling and passed me on the way to his car. It would be useless calling after him since he had his ipod on. My phone beeped again and I opened the messages:

Dazzy: OMG HE IS SOOOO HOT! WHERE DID U FIND HIM? I WANT 1! DOES HE HAVE A BROTHER?

_Dazzy: GIRL! Don't gimme the silent treatment, he is fiiiinnnneeeeeeeeee…_

I shut my phone laughing out loud to myself as I drove home.

I walked in the door and threw down my bag. "Hey mom I'm home!" I found her in her office on the phone and rolled my eyes as she gestured me to come in. She covered the mouthpiece of her phone and whispered, "Its Jack. He will not SHUT UP! How was your day sweetie? And who's jacket- Yes, yes Jack I'm still here. No, she doesn't need to charge the poor man any more than that! He's buying a cabin! Not a castle for God's sake!" I walked out and went up to my room, placed Cole's jacket over my desk chair, and changed into some sweats and a tank top. I padded down the stairs and remembered the paper in my jeans pocket. I nearly tripped over myself as I turned back around and bolted back up and entered the number into my phone. I put my course brown hair up into a bun and go down to the kitchen. I looked through the pantry and fridge and couldn't find anything to eat. All I could think about is Cole. Before I could make myself wussy out, I text him, just simply 'hey (:'. Almost instantly I get a reply and my heart nearly leaps out of my chest. I sat down in my favorite oversized chair in the living room and sink into the cushions, and open the message.

Cole: Well hey there blushing beauty (:

Me: How did you know it was me?

Cole: well you're the only one I've given my number to out in the past…. 8 months (:

_Me: Oh whatever! And btw u can't see me blushing!_

_Cole: If I could, would you be? (;_

_Me: …_

_Cole: HAHAHA that is great… Well what are you doing? (: _

We texted for hours, until I was dozing off in bed. He said goodnight and that he would see me tomorrow, and I went to sleep, happier than I have been in months. Thinking of this new boy that surprisingly came into my life so suddenly was amazing. The days that followed that week were about the same. We would meet up, talk, and go to our classes together, occasionally flirting with eachother… Well, mostly him with me. Then I would suffer through PE and we would go home and text eachother till one of us fell asleep, and then the next day, it started all over again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I woke up Friday morning to Panic at the Disco blaring through my speakers, and turned to slap it off but stopped. It was one of my most favorite songs New Perspective and automatically made me think of Cole. I got up, turning up my music and started getting ready for school. I showered and sang along to whatever my radio was playing. I checked my phone as I went into my room and my screen flashed that I had two new messages. The first was from my mom saying she left on a trip early this morning and would be home for dinner the next day and to mind my manners and remember that dad is watching. This made my heart ache knowing that he passed away when I was in third grade in a freak accident on his way to work. The second message was from Cole. I eagerly opened it and my heart leapt into my throat. _Thought I would thank you for showing me around these past few days… and however much longer you do (; I'll pick you up at 7:10. Don't eat. ~Cole. _My first thought was how does he know where I live, but I brushed that aside when I realized it was almost seven. I threw on some leggings and a long tee shirt and put my hair in a messy bun and did a quick swipe of makeup. My stomach was growling. I was brushing my teeth when there was a light knock at the front door. I ran to it and threw the door open and Cole was standing there. "Good morning Kali." He said to me with a goofy smile on his face. I invited him in and closed the door behind him. I said good morning when he took a step toward me and moved his hand to my face. _Oh my god. He's going to kiss me,_ I thought. I wondered for a split second if he could hear my heart beating a million miles an hour and looked into his eyes. His thumb moved towards my lips… and wiped the corner of my mouth. "Toothpaste," he said laughing to himself. I blushed bright red, turning around to get my bag and slip on my shoes. I stood up, checked myself in the mirror seeing him behind me and turned around when he planted his lips square on mine. They were soft, and gentle, and made me want to throw my arms around his neck. When he pulled away I knew I didn't want him to, and I don't think he wanted to either. My hand moved to my lips and I felt my face flush and my stomach flutter. He just looked at me for a second, holding my gaze. "I'm sorry." I barely heard him say. I shook my head smiling and headed for the went outside and I locked the door, and noticed it was pretty chilly and that I forgot his jacket… For nearly the fifth day in a row now. I looked at him and he was wearing one, nearly identical to the one he gave me except that it was in brown. I wondered to myself how many of the same style of jacket he owns. We talked about our math assignment that was due in a few hours as he led me to his car. I stopped and felt my mouth want to gape open. It was a classic, yellow Camaro with black racing stripes, like the one off Transformers, which is by far my all time favorite movie. He led me around to the passenger side and opened my door. "M'lady," he closed it behind me after I had got seated. The interior was refurbished and very new. It smelled like leather and when he got in and started it the stereo turned on and played an old Journey song I remember hearing when I was little. He backed out of the driveway and sung along almost in perfect tune I noted. "So, I'm dying of curiosity, where are you taking me!" he looked at me with the smile I'd grown to love and his eyes looking straight into mine that made me not ask anymore questions. I leaned my head back against the seat, closed my eyes, and listened to him sing along to his music.

"Okay, ready… set… open your eyes…" I opened them and I was stunned. The sun was coming up just over the horizon and it spread out into pinks and oranges and purples all mixed together as one. We were up on a cliff, probably one that surrounds our valley close to our school. I closed my eyes again and smiled, sinking back into the seat and I sighed. I opened them and Cole reached behind him and pulled out a small lunch cooler and opened it. It was full of different fruits and a baggie with the best homemade cinnamon rolls in town, and he brought out a thermos full of creamy hot chocolate. We talked, ate, and watched the sunrise until we knew we couldn't put off going to school any longer. Before we left, he leaned over and put his hands on both sides of my face and kissed me again. Soft, and still gentle, but more eager this time. He tasted sweet like the strawberries he had just eaten and I kissed him back, moving my hand to the back of his neck pulling him closer to me; making this kiss one I knew I wouldn't be able to forget. He pulled away, kissing me gently on the nose and took my hand and drove down the winding path to the main road to school playing with my ring on my finger the whole way back.

We went into our first hour class, Sex Education with Mr. Louis. While he was taking attendance we listened to the announcements over the intercom. Lunch menu, upcoming track informational meetings and the annual end of winter, beginning of spring dance. Cole glanced over at me with interest and I shook my head at him. "Don't even think about it! The only thing worse than me blushing so much is my dancing. I'm serious." He laughed at me. The last announcement caught our whole classes attention though: _We have an important announcement: Sara Long has been missing for 12 hours now. If anyone has any information about where she was last seen or where she might be, please report your information immediately to a teacher, the office, or the police as soon as you can. Thank you, have a good rest of your day everyone._ And the intercom shut off. There were hushed whispers around the room and many people, including Mr. Louis, looked perplexed.

"Alright class hush now. I'm finishing up grading your assessments from last class, so I need you to work on school work, and please no talking." People start shuffling papers and getting out random things to work on. I don't even want to try with getting away with reading so I start on an outline for an english assignment. Cole is already writing something, and has his iPod in. _Smart kid… _I smiled and thought to myself. I took mine out and clicked on my most recent play list and put it on shuffle. Kiss me Slowly came on by Parachute and it took me back to this morning in Cole's car… And how much we might have gotten away with if we didn't have school and he didn't pull away. I don't know why I'm thinking this way, because I never do. He's just so perfect… and nothing I ever expected to be the type of guy I'd be attracted to. I started thinking about what would have happened in the car if he hadn't pulled away when a note landed on my lap and I blushed while I pulled out of my fantasy.

_To my Blushing Beauty (:_ It said on the front. I nervously tucked my hair behind my ears and opened the note.

'Would you be ok with me making you dinner tonight? (:' it said in Cole's swoopy handwriting. I remembered my mom wouldn't be home till the next day so I wrote back, 'Well how could I say no to such a request haha (:'

'Ha, okay awesome (: I'll just drop you off and go get some stuff and then come back. how about spaghetti? Romantic enough? If not, we can always share a bowl and end up with the same noodle and different ends in our mouths (;'

'Haha okay fine but you're the tramp (;'

'Anything for m'lady (;'

We played note tag for the remainder of the class.

The day went by fairly quick. Cole drove me home and said to give him an hour tops and he'd be back. I got in the house after saying goodbye and started setting up the table in the dining room. I put candles and a nice table setting on the table and dimmed the lights. It was VERY romantic. I looked out into my backyard. My house was surrounded in the back by a forest; the same one I played hide and seek in frequently when I was little with my dad. I drew the curtains, put some soft music on the TV and went upstairs to wait for Cole to get back. I wondered what my mom would think of him. I hadn't ever really had a boyfriend before that I thought about more than the next homework assignment due the next day. I started psyching myself out, wondering what she would say to him… or what she would think. _I wonder if he would consider cutting his hair – _I was thinking to myself, when there was a knock at the door. I looked at the clock. It took Cole forty-five minutes almost on the dot to get back. I pound down the stairs and swing open the door and he comes in with a couple paper bags and I lead him to the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

We start getting things put together; water boiling, oven on for the garlic bread, brushing against each other as we move around my kitchen. I start putting a salad together on the counter when I feel his arms slide around my waist and turn me around towards him. I look up into his gorgeous green eyes and he smiles at me and I put my arms around his neck. He starts to sway back and forth to the music playing in the background and I close my eyes and lean my head on his chest. His lips rest on my forehead mouthing the words of the song. I tilt my head up and he kisses me ever so lightly on the mouth and I twirl my fingers through the back of his hair and I feel him shudder against me. Our kissing gets more passionate and his hands tighten at my waist and lift me up on the counter. He doesn't miss a beat as he slides his hands to the sides of my legs and runs his tongue along the bottom of my lip. I try, but fail, to not let a sigh escape my lips. His hands move to the small of my back pushing him into me when we hear the water boiling over. He quickly pulls away, and I hear him curse under his breath, which makes me laugh, and he sticks his tongue out at me like a little kid. I compose myself and finish making the salad and he starts singing loudly when one of his favorite songs comes on the TV.

"What is your family like?" I ask when we're sat down to eat. Candle light flickering on both our faces. "I don't mean to pry… But I complain about how my mom is never around, but I haven't heard one word about yours." I watch him, as he stares a little too intently on his plate of spaghetti, moving his fork around. Before I can say something else, he looks up to answer me, "well, there really isn't anything to tell. My parents are both like your mother and are rarely home. When they aren't home, I stay by myself. Occasionally Helena, our housekeeper, will keep me company, but I try to get out as much as I can. My sister moved out a couple years back and is living in Georgia studying medicine."

"Oh," I say kind of surprised. "How long has she wanted to be a –" I dropped off mid-sentence as I realized what he had just said. "Housekeeper? As in… Like a maid?" He looked up at me with slight amusement on his face. "Yeah, I guess you could call her that. But she's always been around for me, so she's almost like an aunt." I couldn't believe this. He is filthy-stinkin'-rich. "What part of town do you live in?" I asked. I could imagine him sitting in the front of his almost mansion looking house in the richer part of town surrounded by other wealthy people; And me in my old house by the forest, nearly in the middle of no where. "Well I don't actually," this made me rethink my thoughts. "I don't live in a neighborhood. The spot where I drove us this morning to look at the sunset? That's my driveway… Well… Half of it." He looked kind of embarrassed as he said this and looked back down at his now empty plate. "My parents built the house when my sister was really young, and I grew up in it. I'll take you there tomorrow if you want? Maybe my parents will be home and you could meet them." He got up as he said this and cleared our dishes and took them to be rinsed off, which gave me sometime to think, _well it explains the many leather jackets,_ I humerously said to myself. I heard Cole come back into the dining room and turned to look at him. He was holding something, and came up to where I was sitting and knelt down to a knee. "Kali Norrison, would you do me the extraordinary honor of going to the Winter-Spring dance with me next weekend?" and held out a round of cheesecake with strawberries in a heart shape. I laughed because it was so cheesy and took the cheesecake from him, set it on the table, and tackled him to the ground. It wasn't a hard fall since he was already kneeling, and I landed on top of him. I kissed him long and slow and when I pulled away this time, he stared at me and he gave me his cute little smile, "Well I take that as a yes then?" We both laughed, and feel eachother laugh since our bodies are smashed together which makes us laugh harder. I don't know how long we laid there for, kissing and holding eachother, but I didn't want to move.

The next morning I woke up on the couch with a blanket, but still in my clothes from the night before. I don't remember getting there, which means Cole must have moved me. _Cole…_ Where was he? I got up and looked around the kitchen and dining room. It was like last night had never happened. Everything was picked up and cleaned. I swear I saw a sparkle in the dishes that were racked beside the sink. _God, I think I'm in love_, I laughed to myself. I went to the fridge to get some juice and there was a note with Cole's handwriting on the paper. _Good Morning Love,_ It said on the front, written in his swooped handwriting. I eagerly tore it down and opened it.

_I'm glad I could see you peacefully sleeping before I left. All leftovers, and cheesecake, are in the fridge, and dishes are done so you have nothing to worry about. I still want to take you up on my offer about coming over today, so I will be there at 1 o'clock to pick you up if you still would like. Oh, and by the way, wear some clothes that you can get in and out of easily (no innuendo intended (;…) because we are going shopping. Don't complain. I know girls love shopping (;_

_Love, _

_Cole_

Why of all things was he going to take me shopping? Ugh, whatever. He always has something up his sleeve. I looked at the clock. It was 8 o'clock… That meant I had five hours to kill before Cole got to my house. I showered and scrubbed myself since I wasn't able to wash my face before I passed out with Cole. I felt gross, but too happy to complain. I got out of the shower and got into some comfy clothes and picked out a movie, some teal nail polish, and headed down stairs. I was half way down the staircase when I heard someone in the kitchen. "Cole?" I said out loud. Maybe he had forgotten something… But what could there have been that he had forgotten? I crept down the stairs slowly, rounded the corner and slammed right into the intruder. I screamed bloody murder. And so did my mother. She had come home early. "Honey! Oh my goodness you scared me so much! Jack let me come home early because we sold the house!" she wrapped her arms around me and I did the same to her. After we pulled away we walked into the kitchen together. I set my stuff down on the counter and she opened the fridge. "Oh wow. When did you make spaghetti? And salad… Bread… and cheesecake? Did I miss a party or something while I was gone?" she smiled a little uncomfortably and I turned bright red I assume because she started in on me. "Kali. Who did you have over? I know Daz can come over whenever she likes, but you guys usually order in, and you look guilty of something." I answered her very, very quietly. "Cole… My… Boyfriend." I closed my eyes as she took in a deep breath. I opened my eyes and she was smiling like a little schoolgirl. "A BOY? My little girl has a boyfriend? Oh sweetheart that is wonderful! Is that who you called out for when you were coming down the stairs? Oh my god Kal tell me all about him! When do I get to meet him? What does he look like!" The questions continued for about an hour as we talked about him and I told her everything, including him getting me today to go shopping. "Well any boy that can do dishes as well as he did is welcome over here any day," she winked at me and got up to put them away. My mom and I watched movies and painted our nails like we used to four years ago when I was thirteen; before she got busy with work. I went upstairs to get ready at noon. I didn't know what to wear that would be cute but also comfortable for trying on clothes. _Screw it,_ I thought, _He saw me sleeping… And I'm not that cute of a sleeper_. I put a pair of sweats and a band tee, threw my hair up in a ponytail and did a quick brush of mascara. I lay back on my bed and picked up a magazine and read. I'm a sucker for any kind of gossip. Glancing at the clock I notice that it's already 12:50, so I brush my teeth and head downstairs into the living room to wait for Cole. I heard people talking, and when I walk into the living room my mom is sat down… With Cole in my favorite chair, drinking iced tea it looks like. "Uhm… Hey Cole." I say, trying to smile as I walk toward them. Cole stands up and sets his tea down and comes over to hug me. He lifts me up, and I laugh and smell his yummy cologne again. He sets me down and looks back to my mom, "Well Ms. Norrison, I promise not to keep her too late."

"Oh, you're fine darlin'. And please, call me Lynn." She smiled at him. "Kal, do you have your wallet? Here," she hands me her debit card, "don't spend over 200 alright sweetie? Just have her back here by midnight Cole, have fun kids. Come tell me goodnight when you get home, ok?" She walks us out and I give her a hug goodbye and tell her I will check in, in a couple of hours. When we get in the car and my mom shuts the front door, Cole leans over to kiss me quickly. "I didn't want to do that in front of your mom," he chuckles to himself, "and I thought we could go shopping and then go to my house for dinner tonight? My parents are getting home tonight and I thought we could surprise them. And from the look on your face you're worrying too much. They will love you Kali, I mean who couldn't?" He looked right at me when he said this and I flushed and looked out the window. The radio started up and we headed toward downtown.

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><p><strong>Bored? Let me know.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"You have GOT to be kidding me." I exclaimed. Cole drove us to a dress shop. One I would never step foot in. My mother's 200 dollar budget would buy me… Maybe their garbage can. "I cannot afford anything in this store!"

"Well, I can. Let's go, we're going shopping for the dance! Don't tell me you're part of the 3% of girls in the entire world that don't like shopping." He faked a frown and I reluctantly flung open my door.

As soon as we got in the door of the shop, I was in awe. There was every style, color, fabric, shoe and accessory to dress maybe all of New York City. My mouth hung open and Cole led me to the counter and said something softly to the woman behind it. She came around and looked me up. "Turn." She said in a heavy foreign accent. I did as she told me. She brought out her measuring tape and measured every nook and cranny of me and went into the back room. "Why are you doing this to me?" I moaned and ran my hands down the sides of my face. He came up beside me and took one of my hands. "Don't pretend like you don't secretly love it." He said playfully. The woman returned and pointed at me. "Come now love, I want you to try on a few things for me. Don't worry about your young fellow, he'll be there when you get back." Cole squeezed my hand and I reluctantly followed her into the dressing rooms. She led me to one and I went inside. There were already dresses that hung on the hooks and shoes on the bench. I stripped down and tried on the first dress. I didn't like how low it plunged. My boobs were big enough. I didn't need them falling out. I rifled through the dresses and noticed one thing they all had in common. They were all coral. _She is good…_ I thought. Daz always told me I look good in coral. I tried the second to last one on just because and turned to look in the mirror. It was strapless and hugged my curves, but didn't make me look pudgy like most dresses do. It poofed out a little and stopped just about mid thigh. It had gold sequins along my chest and went down like raindrops. I tried on a pair of gold platform heals and walked around the dressing room. I looked good. Damn good. I laughed thinking that's exactly what Daz would say if she was here. I walk out of the dressing room and see Cole getting measured. He looks up at me and his mouth literally drops open. The woman turns and looks at me and smiles. "I thought you would like that one." She tells me. Cole glides over to me and slowly looks me up… and down. His gaze lasting a little too long in some places, which made me blush. He spoke to the woman, "We'll take it." He said, very certain of himself. When I was in the dressing room I had tried looking for any price tags, but they were just colored dots on the tag where the price should be. I went back into the dressing room and changed back into my regular clothes and went back to the counter with my new dress and shoes. He didn't let me see the receipt, but he had also purchased a tie for himself. It was a coral one with gold accents to match my dress. "I don't know what to say Cole. I haven't ever had anyone do this for me," I told him once we were outside, "I've just heard this place is so expensive, and I feel bad for you buying me this… it's so beautiful-" he interrupted me by kissing me on the mouth. This kiss, or kisses since we were basically making out in front of this poor woman's store, were so full of meaning and emotion they made me want to cry out of happiness. He pulled away still holding my face, inches away from it, "You're beautiful Kali. I saw that the first day I saw you in Louis' class and you blushed bright red. You're gorgeous. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." I was speechless. He kissed me again lightly. "Alright, let's go home. Uh, my home." He said nervously correcting himself.

It took almost an hour to get out of downtown and to the edge of the valley to the winding path of his 'driveway'. From there it was a near 5 minutes of winding twists and turns till we even reached the house. We pulled up and I got my first look at my boyfriend's home. It was massive. It was encased with trees surrounding it and had a wrap-around porch. It was completely made out of dark wood and had to be at least 3 stories high. Cole hit the garage door button and it opened. It was white and very clean looking inside. It looked like a car shop basically, or a dealership because Inside of the 'garage' sat rows of old and new cars, in pristine condition. I tried not to gape at the sight of this. Cole parked the car and opened my door, took my hand and led me inside. It looked much homier in here. The ceilings were high and there were animal heads hanging on the walls, along with bear skin or something draped over the leather couches. It had a very woody feel to it. He led me through, showing me everything. This house was wide too. I felt like it took around 10 minutes to get to the other side. The staircase was near the front door and it was massive. It was a large winding staircase and he took me up it. We walked through the pathway upstairs and if you leaned over the railing you could see the living room, kitchen, and everything on the second floor.

At the end of the hall/walkway was his bedroom I assumed. He looked at me, smiled, and opened the door leading me through it. "This is my room," he said with a sweeping motion of his arm. I walked ahead of him looking around. He had a king sized bed with a dark red bedspread. The walls were white except for one black wall behind his huge flat-screen TV and rows of DVDs and CDs. The carpet was soft against my bare feet and I walked over to the window and looked out. His room faced the back of the house, which looked into the forest on one side and down into the valley on the other. Soft acoustic music played and I turned around as Cole sat on his bed and played something on his guitar. _I didn't know he played…_ I thought. I lay down on my stomach across from him and listened to him play. It was a very complicated piece, yet a ballad at the same time. I watched his fingers move up and down the neck of the guitar, very confidently. He played the final notes and looked at me, "Do you like it?"

"Of course! Did you write it?" I asked stunned. He nodded in reply and smiled, "I thought you'd like it."

"Cole, I loved it, it was gorgeous." He watched me and started playing something different, more of a rock type song. "Cole?" I asked.

"Mmm?" he said still playing.

"How did you know where I lived? When you brought me up on the cliff to watch the sunrise… I didn't give you my address." He looked up at me and stopped playing after I said this.

"Oh…" He blushed probably as red as I did the first day he met me, and looked down to his strings. "Well… I kind of followed you home last Wednesday… I was curious about you…" after he said this he started fiddling with his guitar, playing random chords. I thought back to Wednesday after school, but don't remember thinking I was being followed… "I should have told you," he said interrupting my thoughts. He had put his guitar down and was just looking at me. Searching my face for being upset with him I guessed. "I just didn't when I sent that text without asking your address. I'm sorry." I brushed it aside and told him not to worry about it. "I probably would have done the same thing, except I suck at being sneaky…" I laughed to him. He laughed; relieved I wasn't creeped out.

"Oh my god," I thought out loud. "I don't have anything to wear for dinner." Cole shook his head and laughed, took my hand and led me to the other end of the 2nd story. He nudged me forward and I opened the door we faced. It was nearly the same as Cole's except everything was a light lavender in color, with and orange bed and rug.

"This is my sister Natalie's room," he told me, "You guys are about the same size so you could probably find something in her closet. She leaves some of her clothes here for when she comes to visit. You can use her bathroom also." He pointed to a room to the right of her nightstand. "She has some hair stuff you can use if you want to. I'm going to go change and I'll be in the kitchen when you're done." He kissed my hand and closed the door behind him. I walk over to the closet and open it. Everything is color coordinated. I run my fingers along the clothes. I pick out a floral patterned dress; layer it over a tank top, and cowboy boots for shoes. I couldn't decide what to do with my hair so I sat in the bathroom staring at myself in the mirror till I figured it out.

This whole process takes about an hour and I laugh at myself thinking about what Cole is thinking; about how girls take SO long to get ready. I retrace my steps, down the stairs and into the kitchen. Cole has dark blue jeans on and a black buttoned up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked great. And whatever he was making smelled delicious. I cleared my throat and he turned around and saw me. I did a little spin and he came over to me lifting me up and spinning us. I laughed and slapped his shoulder telling him to put me down. "You look gorgeous love." he told me, playing with a curl hanging over my shoulder. I told him how handsome he was and he kissed me. Something started to sizzle and I followed him over to the stovetop. He was sautéing chicken and a lot of bright vegetables. It smelt so good and it made my stomach growl. I sat myself up on the counter watching Cole as he moved around his kitchen flipping his hair out of his eyes every now and then. I couldn't picture him with short hair. I liked it long and wispy like he has it. He told me his parents would both be home around 6. The clock had struck 15 till when I heard voices drifting in from the garage. I looked at Cole and he smiled at me.

"What is that delicious smell in here? Is our little chef prodigy cooking again?" His mother said as she came into the kitchen. "Oh! Well hello there," she said, talking to me. I nervously hopped off the counter and Cole came to stand next to me.

"It DOES smell good in here, what are you – oh hello… And you are?" His dad came in the kitchen and was talking to me. I think Cole picked up on my nervousness and spoke for me. "Mom, Dad, this is Kali. She's been showing me around lately at school and helping me get the hang of things. We are in most of all of our classes together actually. I asked her to the Winter-Spring dance next Saturday. We thought we would make you dinner since I expected you home tonight." He talked very proper-like to them. I wondered if his parents had high expectations for him. "Oh, well it is very nice to meet you Kali." His mom said as she lightly shook my hand. His dad didn't say much but mumbled, "Yes, nice to meet you," and shook my hand. I smiled at them and took a seat at the counter stools. Cole hugged and kissed his mom and hugged his dad and they both went up stairs to unpack and dress for dinner. "They seem nice," I told Cole. "Does your dad have something against me already?" I lightheartedly asked.

"I don't know. Probably not. He judges people too quickly. I had some rough past ex-girlfriends that they did not like. At all. It was during my rebellious stage in life I guess." He continued fixing dinner and I thought about his past exes and what they probably looked like. Some image of a mix between a hooker and a punk-rock chick with a billion piercings jumped into my mind and I shook it out quickly. I knew from past experiences that it's never a good idea to ask about exes, so I just kept my mouth shut. I watched Cole silently as he finished dinner. The table was already set and I heard his parents coming down the stairs talking quietly to each other. I prayed it wasn't about me.

"Dinner is served!" Cole announced smiling. His parents took their seats and I sat down next to Cole. We dished ourselves up and the first bite was spectacular. Whatever seasonings or spices he put in it went together extremely well. I put another bite into my mouth when his mom spoke up. "So how long have you two been sleeping together?" I chocked on my bite of chicken, and excused myself from the table taking my water glass with me. I heard Cole answer back to his mother, "We have not _slept_ together mother. And thank you for completely embarrassing her. Why do you always have to jump to conclusions about girls I bring home to meet you both? Wait… No that's right, I don't bring girls over because of this exactly. Just because you walked in on…" I walked into the bathroom before he could finish his rant. When Cole first showed it to me I thought to myself how huge it was for a guest bathroom; full Jacuzzi tub with jets and everything. It easily fit three people. I sat on the edge of it looking into the mirror at myself. After chocking my face will get red blotch spots over it, and it was pretty bad looking this time. _His parents walked in on him having sex?_ I drank the rest of my water and put my head into my hands, when there was a knock at the door. "Kali? Are you okay?" it was Cole's voice, and I didn't know whether to be relieved or pissed.

"Doors unlocked." I said grimly. He came in and rushed over to me, knelt down, and wrapped me in his arms. He looked at me, "I am so sorry… I don't know what else to say. She was completely out of line asking that." His eyes were searching my face for some kind of response, I was sure. "Your mom… She walked in on you and one of your exes-"

"No! No, no… Well yes, but not what you think. We were… We were just kissing and she had taken off my shirt and we were under a blanket when they came home early from a trip. She assumed but she was wrong Kali. My mom… She doesn't trust many people, and it's hard for her to let another person into our family, even though they're never home. I'm sorry. Would you like me to take you home?" I really didn't want to say no, but all I wanted to do is go home and cuddle up with a book and fall asleep. He led me out into the dining room. "I'm taking Kali home." He shook his head as he told his parents this.

"Thank you for letting me help Cole prepare dinner tonight, I hope you enjoy it Mr. and Mrs. Broadman. Goodnight." I said to them quietly. I grabbed my clothes from the entryway table and went to Cole's car, him following behind me.

It was a silent ride back to my house. Cole offered to stop and get us something to eat, or a dessert, but I just shook my head and leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. I felt us pull up into my driveway, and looked at the dashboard clock. 7:23 it read. I opened my door and noticed my mom's car wasn't in the driveway. _Nothing new_, I thought. Cole fumbled with my dress and shoes I had forgotten we bought this afternoon and brought it inside my house. He followed me upstairs and I tore the note down my mom left me on my door and read it. She got called into the office and had to do some work, not to stay up and she'd see me in the morning. Cole hung my dress up on my closet door and looked around my room. I didn't say anything to him as I took my pajamas into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth.

When I came back into my room he was laying on top of the covers of my bed, texting someone, and I could not help smiling. His shoes were beside my bed and he wasn't wearing a shirt (which didn't bother me much…) and was wearing his jeans. I crawled in bed beside him, under the covers, after switching off my lamp. He put his arm around me and told me sweet dreams and he would be right there when I woke up.

He told the truth. I slept through the night without a single dream or waking up. My door was wide open and I could smell breakfast being prepared from downstairs. I remembered my mom came home late last night… I wonder what she thought of Cole staying over… and of all places in my bed. I looked down at him. He was still on top of the comforter but had a throw blanket over him. He looked so young lying there on his back. His hair was sprawled out on the pillow behind him. I leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, silently got out of bed and went downstairs. My mom was in the kitchen in lounge clothes. I don't remember the last time she got up to make a Sunday breakfast… She must have been in a good mood if she was cooking. I stretched and yawned, "Good morning momma." I told her.

"Well hello sleepy head," she smiled at me. She was cooking bacon, eggs, homemade waffles and a bunch of fruit. "How did you sleep? I was glad to see that boy of yours kept his distance in your bed… I would have had to open a can of whoop-ass on that boy!" I laughed at my mom and set the table. "Okay I have to say… When I came home and saw his car and I was kind of pissed… I was going to come kick him out but then saw you two asleep and I just couldn't! I threw one of your blankets over him. You were so soundly asleep and he was snoring and it was adorable," she gushed. "And he has a hot body Kal. I saw his abs… I mean really, you picked a good boy," she winked at me, and someone coughed.

"Uh… Good morning…" It was Cole. He probably had heard all of what my mom had said about him being attractive. I turned red and put my head in my hands, "_oh god…" _I moaned. He had come down still shirtless… Which I didn't really care about, but now I was wondering if he was second guessing not putting a shirt on after he heard my mom gush about him. "Oh dear…" my mom blushed as red as I was, she stared at him wide eyed, "I am so sorry sweat heart… I was just… _Oh god…" _She mumbled as she turned around and continued making breakfast. Cole stood there, dumbfounded. I felt bad for him but couldn't keep myself from laughing. "Come on," I said leading him into the living room. We sat down and I threw my legs over his lap and turned the TV on. There was seriously nothing on, so we turned on cartoons. "So…" I said to him, "What'd your parents do when they found out you stayed the night?" I felt bad. If he got in trouble or if his parents were upset, there was no way I was going to be liked by them. Ever.

"Well when you were in the bathroom last night I texted my dad. I told him I would be home sometime today and not to wait around because I didn't want to deal with their shit." I just nodded and turned my attention to the TV. "Do you have anything else to wear?" I asked as I watched the colorful cartoons jump around on the screen. I remembered my dad and I would watch Saturday morning cartoons every Saturday when he was still alive. He would make us pancakes and we would drench them in butter and syrup while my mom was working. Cole spoke pulling me out of my flashback. "Kali? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me," I said looking at him. He took hold of my hands looking at them. "I was just thinking about my dad." I had told him he died but hasn't given him many details about it… Without him even asking I started telling him about it.

"I was in 3rd grade… I remember it was winter and it had snowed a lot that day, and it was the day of my Christmas concert at school. He was on his way from our house to St. George's Elementary to watch me sing. We sang our songs, and I remember looking out seeing my mom shrugging, meaning she didn't know where he was. Then as we were finishing the end of our last song, I saw her leave the room into the hall with her phone and a confused look on her face. She slammed her phone shut and ran back into the cafeteria where we were having the concert and whispered hushed urgent words to my teacher. My mom ran towards me, taking me off the risers and the audience was still clapping from our final note, and she bolted to the car dragging me behind her. I could tell something was extremely wrong as she shoved me in the front seat and sped out of the parking lot, to the main road, and to the free way. My mom started getting teary eyed and I started putting the clues together…" I couldn't go further. There was a lump in my throat and my eyes stung.

"Love, you don't have to finish. I know what happened."

"No. I have to finish telling you. I've never told anyone this story before Cole," he was silent, waiting for me to continue. "We pulled up in front of the hospital. I'm assuming we walked through a bunch of hallways… I don't remember much. My mom sat me on a bench down the hall from my dad's room as she talked with the doctor outside of it. I couldn't hear anything they were saying, even though I tried my hardest. And then my mom broke down into tears and slid to her knees, bawling. I remember thinking, _No, he's not gone, the doctor's wrong. He made a mistake. _Doctors made mistakes more than they should, right? I looked at my mom sobbing and screaming out my dad's name, when it hit me that he would never come back. Never be able to come to another Christmas concert, or cut the turkey at Thanksgiving. Never help me when I fell off my bike and kiss my 'boo-boos' better. It seemed like everything went in slow motion then. I don't know how, but I ended up in the hospital cafeteria sitting in one of the corners staring at a dad and his daughter talking about her new sister. _I won't ever have a brother or sister…_ I knew enough then it takes both a mom and dad to make a baby… The police said he had slid off the road into a ditch, and that it was an accident because of how slippery the roads were. The doctors had done everything they could but he died before we could get to the hospital. His funeral was the following Saturday, and it was really sunny… making the snow look really bright. And I knew he was still with me somehow. I still don't know how he is but he's here. I couldn't go to school, and my mom couldn't work with the same people she did. So we moved here. In a house in the middle of no where and I was home schooled the rest of 3rd and all of 4th." I went quiet and Cole wiped a tear from my eye that I didn't know I had cried. He knew saying sorry wouldn't do anything, so we sat there for a while listening to the cartoons in the background. I laid my head on Cole's chest, neither of us saying anything.

"Hey you two," my mom came into the room, "breakfast is done!" she said to us smiling. We hopped off the couch and went into the kitchen. My mom gave us plates and we dished up. She took hers to her office and shut the door behind her, meaning she had work to do. Apparently we were both starving because we loaded up on waffles and bacon and eggs. It was delicious. She hadn't cooked like this in years. Cole's phone rang. "God, just a second." He walked into the kitchen and answered, "Yes?" I wished badly I could hear who he was talking to. "I'm still with her yes..." There was a long pause. "No dude, are you kidding me? I told you I don't want to be involved in that crap." Another pause, "No. For the last time, this is one of the reasons why I left that god damn school James." What was he talking about? He hasn't told me anything really about his past life, especially at his other school. I never really thought about asking. I heard him say eff-off to 'James', and he slammed his phone shut. He came back into the room hiding his emotions well, and looked at me. Apparently, I couldn't hide it as well as he could. "You over-heard?" I nodded and kept eating. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, making him look extremely sexy, I n oted. He sat down, and stabbed his waffle. I couldn't help but laughing a little, and he looked up. "James was a friend from my old school. I've known him since 4th grade and we've hung out every weekend… Except this one because I'd rather be with you. Lately he's been acting weird… He's smoking pot every day with his other friends and drinking too much. He sounded drunk when he called me. And it's 10 in the morning. He asked if he could borrow money from me so he could buy drugs. He is a complete idiot, but he's like my brother… I just don't know what to do." Cole's waffle looked demolished… It looked like mush because he was stabbing it while he was talking.

"KAL? OH MY GOD sweetie did you hear about that Sara girl that you go to school with? They found her body this morning in the river downtown," she was wide eyed and her mouth was trembling as she talked. Sara and I had hung out once because we were assigned a project together in middle school. She was a little gothic and we didn't talk or hang out after that… We just used each other for a grade. My mom walked back into her office shaking her head and mumbling something about thanking god it wasn't me, which made me shudder.

We went back upstairs and he said he probably would have to go home soon so he could talk to his parents. This translated to me, screaming at them for being so rude to me. He put his shirt back on which kind of disappointed me. He got the rest of my stuff together and I led him out to his car. I was still wearing my pajamas which consisted of a tank top and shorts, and it was still winter cold. I shut the door behind me, walked out with him, jumping around trying to keep warm. Cole thanked me for everything and told me to tell my mom thank you for breakfast. I hugged him and he wrapped his coat around me as he hugged me and I told him thank you for staying over with me last night. He nuzzled his face in my hair kissing my neck, sending shivers down my body. I wanted to stay like this forever. He still smelt like his cologne and I closed my eyes as he rocked us back and forth, turning us in a circle. My back was against his car and I had to pull away because I thought my feet were going to fall off from the cold. To my surprise he pulled me back and kissed me, pressing my up against the car. A long, lingering kiss makes me completely forget about how freezing I am. We pulled away and looked at each other smiling and watching our breath swirl above us as we breathed.

I ran back inside freezing my butt off and ran up to my room. My phone beeped right as I got through the door and I snatched it off the side table. It was Cole.

_Cole: Forgot to tell u. James is wondering if u wanted to get dinner tmrrw after school. Prolly pizza. Let me kno k? I understand if u don't want to. His gf will be there too_

I honestly had to think about it for a while, but I really wanted to meet this kid.

_Me: Sure (: would luv to. Pretty sure mom's gonna go out of town again… so u could just come over after school if u wanted to and then go from here to dinner (: wouldn't mind if u stayed over either… house gets creepy when she's gone_

_Cole: okay will do. I'll bring some xtra clothes this time haha. Hey I will txt you in a bit. I gotta go talk to the parents… tty soon Kali_

I shut my phone and relaxed. I finished all of my homework, so I just laid in bed and red all day. I could still smell Cole's cologne on my sheets.

Later last night mom told me she was going out of town, which made me laugh to myself because I loved how I totally called it. She was going to be gone for a week this time, instead of just a day or two. I knew I could handle it. Especially if Cole decided to stay one or two nights… Or the whole week. I woke up happy, coming out of a steamy dream about Cole and I, and looked at the clock. _Shit!_ I forgot to set my alarm and I had thirty minutes till I needed to leave the house. I sprang out of bed and looked at myself. I honestly look like a truck hit me. I looked at my phone quickly and checked my messages. Only one from Cole saying good morning and that he would pick me up if I needed… _Yes pls! Day sucks already! Just woke up!_ I threw on some sweats and a plain shirt and put my hair in a bun. I finished getting ready and heard a knock at the door as I was getting a muffin out of the microwave. "Come in!" I shouted. I was darting across the house getting all my things together. Cole was leaning by the door and I smiled at him, grabbed my muffin off the counter and bounced out the door.

We talked and he walked me to the passenger side and opened my door for me. I sat down and leaned over to shut the door when I noticed Cole was just standing there in my way of shutting the door, staring off to the main road in front of my house. "What's wrong?" I asked as I followed his gaze out to the street. There was a dark car sitting on the side of the road about a hundred yards from where we sat in my driveway. The nearest house was about a half mile away and the road was a straight shot to town, so there really wasn't anyway of getting lost. "Cole, who is that?" I looked back at him and he looked down at me. Instead of answering, he leaned into the car. "I need you to follow me inside. Look pissed off okay? I'm going to yell something at you. It won't make sense, but it'll get us inside so it doesn't look suspicious if we just walk inside." I nodded at him and he walked to the front of the car and flipped around looking at me. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LISTEN FOR ONCE! JUST STOP TALKING! GOD!" He yelled and pulled off looking pissed off very well… Thank god he was acting. He turned around and stomped towards the door. I flung off my seat belt and grabbed my bag stomping after him, "Well aren't you just a ball of joy! Pms-ing much?" I yelled back at him. I swear I heard him laugh a little as he hopped inside and slammed the door. I opened it, and slammed it so the walls shook. He looked at me and laughed. "'Pms-ing much?'" He mocked me. "Oh shut up! I didn't know what else to say!" We laughed. I grabbed my bag and we went up stairs to my room. I threw my bag down and sat on my bed while Cole went over to the window and sat on the window seat, looking out to the street.

"So," I started, "Are you going to tell me what's going on or what?" he looked over with a grim look on his face. "Honestly, I don't know. A couple days ago, I noticed the car. It has been following me everywhere. Saturday night when I stayed over, that was another reason. I didn't want to know what would happen if they followed me back to my house. I don't know what they want. I've never done anything that would cause me to be followed by someone. When I left Sunday morning, they were gone. But when I left the house and came down the hill from my driveway, they were right there in the parking lot of the gas station. They followed me all the way here. I don't want you to be involved Kali. I cant do that to you." I didn't really know what to say so I just nodded, and he turned back to the window. I laid back on my bed, yawning. "You need to call your mom. Just tell her you're sick and have her call the office so you're not truant." I did as he said. My mom believed it and called. She told me to get well and would check up on me later that night if she had service. I hung up and Cole looked at me, "So… While we're waiting for weirdo people to leave what do you want to do?" He asked with a mischievous smile on his face. My heart started thumping in my throat and he came over, pounced on me, and started tickling me. "Oh my god Cole stop it!" I squealed. I was laughing so hard. He grabbed my hands with one of his so I couldn't whack him off, and tickled me with the other. He bent his face down toward mine and stopped tickling me. I was smiling big and his face was calm and happy. He kissed me and let go of my hands, which I moved to his hair while I kissed him back.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – The rest of it :)

When I woke up I was lying on Cole's chest and his arms were wrapped around my back. "About time you woke up," he said lazily and ran his fingers through my hair. Somehow he had ended up shirtless and I was in my tank top and still in my sweats, except they were like halfway down my butt, and I was hot. "You could have woken me up you know," I told him.

"Nah, I like watching you sleep. You looked peaceful. I didn't want to wake you." He leaned towards me and kissed the top of my head. I groaned, "Just a second." I rolled off him and rifled through my drawers. "Uhm… Could you close your eyes? I need to change into these. I'm too hot."

He winked at me, "Hell yes you are." This made me blush and smile. He rolled over burying his face in the pillows. I striped down fast and put on my shorts. "Okay you're good!" He turned over and I walked toward the bed, flung myself down next to him and his arms went immediately around me. It was only noon, and I wondered if the car was still there. I unrolled from him and went over to the window. The car wasn't there anymore from what I could see, and I told Cole that and he sat up and sat on the edge of my bed. "Movie?" he asked smiling.

We were sitting on the couch watching some old black and white romance movie. It was very cheesy, but I couldn't take my eyes off it until I heard something out of the front of my house. I looked over at Cole, wondering if he had heard it too. He was out. Completely asleep and his head was back and he was snoring softly. I couldn't believe I didn't hear it until I looked at him. I shifted my weight and got up, trying not to wake him up and padded to the window. I looked over at the front door and saw it wasn't locked, but I needed to see what was out there first. I peeked through the blinds and saw a pair of eyes staring back at me. This made me scream and stumble backwards. I started sobbing and put my face in my hands and felt arms wrap tightly around my body. _They got in the house,_ was my first thought. I started thrashing my arms and yelling for them to let me go. "Kali! Kali, it's just me! It's Cole! Hun calm down, what the hell is going on!" I looked up at him. His expression was so full of concern I didn't know where to begin or what to say. I threw my arms around his neck and cried hard. "The eyes," I got out through sobs, "they were looking – in the window when I looked out! I – I heard a noise and-" Cole stood up and went to the window, "this one?" he pointed at the one where I saw the eyes. I nodded weakly. He pulled up the blinds fast and I winced. There was nobody there and no traces of someone being there either. Cole silently walked to the front door and threw it open and walked out. He left the door open and I could feel the cold air creep into the house making the hairs on my body stand up. I wrapped my arms around myself still sitting on the floor. He came back in a couple minutes later, slammed the door, and locked it. "There's nothing out there. I walked around the outside of the house even. There isn't a trace of anyone around here. I don't know what or who you saw but they got their asses out of her fast."

I was terrified. We spent the rest of our day together sitting on the couch. Cole's arms were wrapped around me and I laid my head on his chest. We didn't talk, but I'm almost certain the same things were going through our heads. Time flew and it was already getting dark. It was only 5:30 and both our stomachs were growling. "How about we go out to dinner? We don't have to do anything fancy, we can just grab some burgers or something if you want." I nodded and he kissed my forehead, "Do you want me to stay over? I don't even have to stay with you in your bed. I'll stay down here on the couch to make sure you're safe." I would have loved for him to sleep with me in my bed tonight… But I knew I probably wouldn't be able to sleep with him there. I told him he could stay and we got our stuff together to go out. I was kind of worried about someone getting into the house when we were gone but I put it aside. Before we left I turned on the flood lights to the back yard, the motion censored ones on the side of the house and the porch lights. Cole double and triple checked all the windows and doors around the house while I got into his car and started it up. The car was freezing and I watched my breath swirl in front of my face while the heat warmed up. Cole got in the car, "alright, let's get outta here. I gotta call the rents real quick though so they don't send someone after me," he smirked. He pulled out his phone and I looked out the window pretending not to listen. I heard his mom answer on the other end, "hello?"

"Hey, mom, it's Cole. Kali's mom is out of town again and there's been some things going on around her house so I'm going to stay here till her mom gets home. I'll be by with her tonight to get some things, ok?" he didn't even give his mom a second to answer, "how's dad?" he asked a little quietly. His mom sighed but I didn't hear her response.

"Mmm… Alright I'll be there around 7 to pick my things," there was a pause, "yup, love you too, bye." He snapped his phone shut and put it in the cup holder. He didn't say anything, just kept driving and took my hand in his. We pulled up to his favorite burger place on the outskirts of town and my stomach ached with hunger. It was freezing and I got inside as quick as I could. Before I opened the doors I could smell the aroma of burgers and fries. Cole wrapped his arm around my waist and led me to a circular corner booth in the back of the burger joint. We settled into the booth and he sat next to me.

"I don't know what to get," I told him, looking at the huge menu filled with different burgers and sandwiches. He grabbed my menu from me, "I'll order for you," he said smiling, "I think I've paid enough attention in the past few weeks to know enough about what you like." Our waitress came by and gave me my chocolate milk I ordered and Cole his Dr. Pepper. "Alright," she said to us, "you two know what you want?" she was older and looked beyond bored with what she was doing. I wondered to myself how long she's worked here… Maybe since it was open… Which was since 1942 the sign out front said. I laughed to myself as Cole told her what we wanted, "Two bacon burgers, one doubled and both with lettuce, mayo, barbeque sauce and ketchup." I stared at him and smiled. He got it right, of course.

The food was amazing. We were almost done eating and Cole was basically done with his burger and it looked like I had barely touched mine. Cole said something under his breath, and I looked over at him. He was looking at the entrance to the burger joint and I followed his gaze. I didn't see anything that stood out to me very much. A few teenagers walked in and were talking to the waitress, and she pointed at our table. "Dammit." Cole said under his breath, "Promise me not to talk ok? Just eat and let me talk." I didn't understand a word of what he was telling me to do because I didn't really understand what was going on. I started sipping on his Dr. Pepper because my milk was long gone. I looked out the window while the other people approached our table. I had gotten a good look at the guy in front, and he screamed 'stay away I might reach out and rip your head off'. He was insanely scary. "Bro, where the hell have you been? You could've at least texted me telling me you weren't coming to hang with me and Becca instead of ditching us and leaving us there for 3 hours waiting for you and – her." He said pointing at me. I thought I could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath. The girl standing beside him, I was guessing Becca, was staring me down intently trying to burn a hole through my forehead. I did everything in my power not to crack up at her because she was ridiculous. I don't think her hair could have gotten more afro looking and I wondered if she was going to get hypothermia from wearing short shorts in the middle of winter. Yet she had fuzzy boots and a ski jacket on so maybe that made up for it? I heard Cole make a low noise in the back of his throat, and if we weren't in the situation we were in at the moment it would have been beyond sexy. "James. Just walk away. I don't want to start anything especially today." Most of the restaurant was looking over at us and I slid to the edge of the booth and stood up. James and Cole were still going on about something and Becca was standing in front of me and I mumbled an excuse me as I went passed her. She stuck her clunky boot out and tripped me and I went falling to the ground, "watch where you're going, bitch." She smirked. I got up to my feet and headed for the door. I heard Cole slam money down on the table and he followed after me and he threw me the keys, "get in the car and lock the doors Kal." I did as he said. I closed the door and Cole was coming out with James and his entourage following him. Even though the doors were shut I could still hear his warning loud and clear, "You better watch it Broadman. I'm sick of being left on the sidelines for some little play toy of yours. You know what I'm capable of." Cole was about to say something when James told him to F*** off and gave him the bird and walked off to his piece of shit car. Cole climbed in and shoved the key into the ignition and peeled out of the lot. He was fuming, and was taking the corners too sharp and too fast. "Cole. Please for the love of God slow down!" I shouted at him as he barely missed some middle aged couple attempting to cross the street. His hands were gripping the steering wheel and I placed mine on top of his. "Cole. Please." The car slowly slowed down and he signaled to the path that led to his house. He didn't say anything but he did take my hand and rub his thumb on mine. We got into his garage and he parked it and got out. I just followed him into the house and up to his room. His parents weren't home and the house was eerily quiet. I hadn't seen his housekeeper at all, and Cole seemed to read my mind, "Helena only comes on Fridays or when I want her around, like if I'm feeling too lazy to feed myself when my parents are gone. I sat on his bed while he threw clothes into a duffle bag and he walked into his bathroom and grabbed shampoo and personal stuff. I let my mind wander a little too much about Cole showering at my house and coming out like in a movie with the steam behind him as he opened the door with a towel around his waist…. "Okay ready. Let's get going. I want to get you home love." He didn't even notice I was day dreaming. Something must have been worrying him. We went back into the garage and I walked over to the car and pulled open the door. Before I got in I saw him as he pulled his back pack and a few other things from the back seat, "Grab my phone and charger will you?" I did and followed him. He hung the Camaro's keys on the key on the key hanger and grabbed a different set. I followed him over to a sleek black 2012 Cadillac CTS V-Coupe. My mom was saying something about wanting this car for a while and was going to be her next investment after this house-buying season. It was a nice car. Cole opened his trunk and put his stuff inside, got in, and shut the door behind him. It was amazingly nice inside and I sank back into the dark seats. He held my hand again as we drove out the back of the garage.

I fell asleep on the ride home and woke up as we bounced into my driveway. Yawning, I got my purse and fumbled my keys to the front door. Cole was right behind me with his duffle in hand and took the keys from me and quickly unlocked the door. He didn't have a jacket on and I realized he must have forgotten it at the burger joint. We got inside and I dead bolted the door and led him to the guest room.

"I didn't think you would want to sleep on the couch all night… You can sleep in here; I clean it every other weekend. Sheets are new and the bathroom is right down the hall." Cole dropped his stuff and took me in his arms. "I'm so sorry," he mumbled in my hair, "If I would have known he was looking for me, I wouldn't have taken you out. I'm sorry Kali, so sorry." I said it was fine and played his hair. He pulled away and looked me in the eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I will do anything to make sure that never happens Kali. I have never cared about one person so much in my life that I want to spend every second of my day with like I have with you. I love you Kali, so much." My stomach ached at his words, "I love you too Cole." I said as he pulled me back into him. He kissed the top of my head and held me there.

I told Cole goodnight and to wake me if he heard anything suspicious. I went up to my room and got ready for bed and climbed under the covers. As soon as my head hit the pillows I fell asleep.

_I was running. I couldn't get away from whomever was chasing me. Blood was all over the floor and every time I turned a corner I slipped. My hands were bleeding and dripping blood onto the floor. 'It's my blood' I thought out loud. I was going in circles and I ran smack into someone in front of me. They grabbed my shoulders and dragged me down the hall. I couldn't scream. No one could hear me. I was going to die – _I woke up panting and a cold sweat filled my body. I threw off the covers and padded down to Cole in the guest room. He had the door wide open and a flashlight on the night stand. I walked over to him and climbed in next to him. He woke up, "what's going on? Is someone outside?" he asked me panicked. "No I just had a bad dream." I told him settling in next to him under the covers. His arm went around me and he kissed my neck and fell back asleep. I slept soundly for the rest of the night listening to him breath and his heart beat against my back.

Blankets were tangled around me when I woke up and the sun was shining on the bed. I rolled over and put my hand where Cole was laying, and he wasn't there. I opened my eyes and sat up looking around. Light was coming out under the bathroom door and I could hear the shower running. I smiled, closed my eyes and cuddled back up with the blanket. I didn't hear him come in, but I felt it when he kissed me and I opened my eyes, "good morning beautiful." He said. His hair was wet and he didn't have a shirt on. I leaned back and looked at him while he walked over and picked up his duffle bag. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and I smiled, thinking of my little fantasy I had yesterday. He turned around and faced me and I just couldn't help tracing my eyes up him. _He has gorgeous v-lines…_ I thought.

"What are you looking at!" he said looking a little red in the face.

"Oooooooh nothing!" I smiled back at him. I plopped myself back down on the pillows and closed my eyes when I felt something hit my face. It smelled like Cole and I touched it and it was his towel. That meant he was… Naked. _Oh shit…_ I groaned and turned over and buried my face in the pillows.

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you don't open your eyes," he burst out laughing and I threw the towel off my face and sat up. Thank god he put his boxers on… I don't know what I would've done if he was standing buck naked in my guest bedroom.

"What time is it?" I just remembered that we had to go to school. I could not miss another day.  
>"9. But I checked online this morning, and it's a teacher in service or something." I sighed, relieved that I didn't have to worry about getting ready. I plopped back down on the bed, turned the television on to the news and put my arms up toward him wanting him to come to me. He walked over and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lay down on top of me on top of the blankets and kissed me. He was still in his boxers and I was in my pajamas and I was silently thanking myself he had not come under the blankets because if he had… We wouldn't have been just making out like we were. I don't know how long we were there rolling around the bed with each other, running our hands all over each other's bodies. The blanket was thrown off to the side of the bed and I was on top of him basically straddling his waist. He put his hands on both sides of my face and kissed me slow, hard, and lingering. I knew what he wanted to do and I might have even given in if the TV hadn't caught both of our attentions.<p>

"_Another high school student went missing yesterday. An Amber Alert was issued for Bella Jenkins around ten pm last night and police are still searching her last known location. Police think that this case is linked to Sara Long's killer also. If anyone has any information about her disappearance or Miss Long's murder, we please ask you to contact Crime Stoppers at…" _The woman trailed on and Cole caught my gaze. He knew what I was thinking.

"You knew her?" He asked, already knowing the answer. I nodded, "Not well… I know she's in marching band… and drama club. She kept to herself mostly. I don't know why anyone would do anything to her. She's never been a problem child at school or anything that I know of." I didn't have a good feeling about her disappearance either.

"Well leave it to the authorities… I'm sure they'll find her love." He kissed my nose and turned us over so he was on top of me pinning my arms to the bed.

"The dance is in three days, remember?" he said smiling.

I groaned loudly, "Don't remind me! Gosh, I'm going to look like a freaking basket case out there. Maybe I won't even go… I'll just disappear while you're getting punch or something!" I did a fake evil laugh and he didn't even break a smile.

"I'm not going to let you go out of my sight for a second at that place. With everything happening around here lately, I don't have a good feeling about letting you go into the bathroom alone." He paused, "okay that's a little too far." He laughed to himself and I giggled.

"But seriously Kal, I won't let anything happen to you, ok?" I nodded, reassuring him nothing was going to happen and pulled him down back on top of me and kissed him hard. I traced my fingers down his shoulders and back feeling his muscles ripple as he moved against me.

The day went by quick. There was a lot of kissing and flirtingly touching each other, making one of us want the other in little instances throughout the day. The sun was setting and Cole had just put in some romantic comedy he had stuffed in his duffle before he left his house. Ryan Reynolds was in it, so it was bound to be good. Cole had made Fettuccini Alfredo for dinner with garlic and herb chicken and it was delicious of course. Neither of us had gotten dressed for the day really, which didn't bother me at all. Cole was wearing baggy sweats and a tank top looking thing and I just stayed in my sleep shorts and shirt. I needed to shower. After I had finished dinner and took our plates to the kitchen I told Cole I would be back in a bit and that I needed to go shower. He said okay and to hurry back or he might come in after me, which made me blush and secretly wish he would. I hopped up the stairs and into the bathroom and turned on the water to steamy hot. I didn't bother shutting the door, even though I knew he probably wouldn't come in. I turned my radio on and sang along loud and obnoxiously.

"Hey!" I heard Cole shout from down the stairs.

"Hey yourself!"

"Quiet down! You'll wake up the neighbors!" which was obviously a joke because my nearest neighbor was about a mile away. I just laughed.

"Come and make me then!" I shouted back. I turned the radio up louder and started singing louder and more off key and heard him run up the stairs. I peeked around the shower curtain and my hair was sopping wet and dripping on the floor of the bathroom. It was framing my face and curling a little like it does only when it's wet. Cole leaned against the bathroom door just staring at me with a smirk on his face. I had stopped singing and the music was still blaring, and he walked over and pushed the off button.

"You really should get back in the shower and finish before I do something you don't want me to…" He said with a very straight and concentrated look on his face. I gave him a sly look and moved the shower curtain down a little lower showing more skin, but nothing important, "who said I don't want you to?" At that he threw his sweats off and took off his tank top, which was super sexy to watch, and pushed the curtains back and pulled me to him. My boobs were smashed against his chest and I looked up at him with an awed look on my face. Oddly enough it wasn't awkward standing like this with both of us standing there with me completely nude and Cole with only boxers on under the shower head. Water was running down his face and he leaned down to kiss me. This sent a whole new kind of rush through me. I pressed my body against him and ached to be closer to him than I already was. My hands went to his hair and I knotted my fingers in it which made him make a noise in the back of his throat. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I put one of my legs up around his hips. He turned us and pushed me up against the shower wall and put my other leg up around his hips and held my thighs there. This was the closest thing I had ever gotten to sex and I didn't mind one bit of it. I think I didn't stop anything either because he wasn't completely naked so we were just… very sexually making out. He pulled away and buried his face in my shoulder.

"You're killing me you know that?" he groaned into me. I laughed at him, "Well I'm sorry but at least you have some self-control. I wouldn't have toyed with you to join me in here if I didn't know that hun"

"You're burning up what little self-control I have doing this you know." he set me down and groaned and hopped out of the shower and closed the curtains. I almost reached out to him to make him stay but I didn't know where it would have lead if I did that, and I didn't want my mom coming home to a 'surprise we're having a baby' talk. That thought made me shudder.

"I'm going to go compose myself while you finish up ok?" his voice was deep and sexy and it made me smile. I laughed at him, "okay well then turn my music back on!" I heard a click and a new fast beat song came on and I started yelling out the lyrics again. I heard him laugh to himself as he clicked the door to the bathroom shut.

It was already dark when I got finished up so I just put pajamas on. It was a silk Victoria's Secret set I got for Christmas the year before. I had never wanted to wear them around the house because the shorts were so short and the long sleeved shirt plunged way low down my chest. I let my hair hang down my shoulders because Cole seemed to like that. _Why am I trying to impress him so much!_ I thought as I looked in the mirror. I looked cute, that was a fact, but I never tried to look cute for anybody. I gave up and went downstairs and found Cole in the kitchen making some kind of chocolate drizzled popcorn. I leaned on the counter and he stared right at my cleavage.

"Hey! Watch where your eyes wander mister!" I said to him with a huge grin on my face.

"Well it's not like it'd be anything new, unless you completely forgot what happened like twenty minutes ago." He replied back with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him and came around to what he was making. I took a piece and popped it in my mouth. It was salty and sweet and made me want to eat it all.

"What's the special occasion?" I asked him.

"None ha, I just found this in the pantry and made it because I was craving it." He told me with a smile. We walked over hand in hand to the couch and flicked on Netflix. He had changed back into his sweats, but didn't have a shirt on. I didn't want to go to school tomorrow… I always hate Wednesday teacher in service days. All my homework was done anyway so I just had to get up early.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" I asked him sweetly.

"Well I was planning on it. It's either your bed or the guest room… And the guest room's bed is bigger so it's your call." He smiled at me.

The clock sang out its hourly tune and I was exhausted. It was only 10 o'clock but I yawned more times than I blinked my eyes it seemed like. Without a word Cole flipped off the TV and scooped me up into his arms. He kissed my face and I was too tired to protest him carrying me. He laid me down on the bed and put the blankets up and around my face. I instantly felt myself dozing off and the last thing I remembered was Cole's body pressing up against my back and his arm wrapping around my body.

"Good night Kali. Sweet dreams, I'll love you forever." He whispered in my ear.

"I love you Cole." I mumbled back to him. Then I was out cold.

I could smell bacon. That was my first thought before I actually completely woke up. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in the guest bedroom. Cole's stuff was still on the floor and he was gone from the bed. I got up and went into the kitchen.

"Good morning," I told him, stretching my arms behind my head. He came up and wrapped his arms around my waist before I was done.

"Whoa... Hi." I giggled and buried my face in his shirt. He was already dressed for school and smelt like he always did. We unwrapped ourselves from each other and he finished making breakfast while I went upstairs to get ready for school.

It had only taken me around 15 minutes to get ready and breakfast was done by then. I sat at the kitchen counter and was swiveling myself back and forth on the stool when Cole's phone rang. He looked at it and didn't answer.

"Who is it?" I asked him.

"It's just James. It's the 5th time he's called since lunch yesterday, but I didn't notice because I hadn't had my phone. I'm just going to ignore him. Let him cool off for a while. I know how he gets." He said it calmly. I turned the news on, wondering about Bella and if there was any news about her disappearance yet. There was, and it wasn't good. There was a anonymously reported fire in an abandoned mine shack in the middle of the woods early this morning and they found her wallet and ID and think they found remains of her body. I couldn't help but tear up a little at this. I pulled out my phone and texted Daz.

Me: Did u hear bout bella?

"Babe come on we gotta go or we're going to be late!" Cole shouted at me from the front door. I brushed my teeth and grabbed my stuff and followed him out of the house to his car. It took about 15 minutes to drive to school, which gave us 10 to get our crap from our lockers and get to sex ed.

Mr. Louis was doing another lecture about STD's and how the only way to prevent them is being abstinent. Even though I knew he knew more than half the school lost their virginity by the age of 17, except for me, which I was fine with at the moment. The whole day floated by quickly, and so did Friday. By last period on Friday, all anyone could talk about was the dance. I was in PE and we were having a talk on nutrition so we didn't have to dress down. I listened to everyone's conversations. Some I wish I didn't have to hear. Especially Marcy Linton and her rant about different spas that offered different prices for Brazilian body waxes… I had to bite my lip to hold back a gag. The final bell rang and I walked out and met Cole at his car.

"Well hey there Gorgeous," he said winking and kissing me lightly. "How bout we go to dinner and a movie tonight? My treat." I don't remember the last time it wasn't his treat, which didn't bug me much. I was dirt broke at the moment anyway, and completely exhausted from my day.

"Do you think we could just go back to my house and watch a movie or something? I'm so tired it's ridiculous." Something was bugging me the past few days and I couldn't put my finger on it, and the more I thought about what it might be, the more unfocused I got about my school work, so I got stressed about my school work and getting stressed makes me dead tired.

"Of course love… I'll give you a massage if you want." He opened my door for me and I gave him a weak smile.

We pulled up into my driveway and I went up to my room to change into some comfy clothes. By the time I got back down stairs, Cole had prepared cooking grilled cheese and tomato soup, one of my favorite comfort foods. I pulled over a hoodie and cuddled up into the puffy lounge chair in the living room. I closed my eyes and rested till Cole told me to unfold my legs from under my butt so he could set the food tray on my lap. It was just what I needed. I told him thank you and that I loved him and he turned on a football game. I finished my food in no time and set the tray on the floor and got up to go sit next to Cole. I cuddled up beside him and laid my head in his lap. I fell asleep listening to the announcers on the TV and him stroking my hair. I woke up still on the couch but laying half on and half beside Cole's shirtless body. We had a blanket thrown over us and it was oddly more than comfortable. The clock struck 1am and I settled back down next to him and fell back asleep.

I could hear the clock dinging. I counted, _1 ding, 2, 3… 10, 11, 12._ _Twelve?_ I thought to myself. I opened my eyes and Cole was still snoring softly under me. I reached down and checked my phone. It flashed one new message and I opened it. It was from my mom. She said that she was going to be a few more days than expected and that she was going to lose service and would call when she could. I dropped the phone on the floor which made Cole jump awake, "What's going on?" he sounded startled and groggy. I kissed him hard and felt him sigh under my weight. We broke apart, "well good morning to you too Angel." I kissed his forehead and lay back down on his chest and traced his muscles.

"What time is it love?" he questioned me.

"Hmm," I squinted at the clock, "12:03" I told him.

"Holy shit balls, seriously? I haven't slept this late in years." He stretched his arms above his head arching his body very deliciously.

"I don't think I've ever slept this late honestly." I told him. Actually I probably could have slept a few more hours. I told him that and he agreed. We went to the guest bedroom and lay down together. We were both overheated from sleeping so smashed together and in such a small area that we stripped down to our under clothes; me in my sports bra and boy shorts and Cole in his boxers. We got under the cool covers and faced each other. Cole traced the contours of my face and we kissed felt each other up for about an hour. We didn't get as intense as we did in the shower before, but we explored each other's bodies more that we had before with our hands.

I woke back up around 4:30 and Cole was tracing my back with his fingers. He had managed to get my bra off sometime during this whole process of rolling around on the bed together.

"I need to go get my suit from my house… Will you be okay here for a couple hours while I go get ready?" His lips moved on my forehead as he spoke.

"Of course hun, I need to get ready anyway and my hair is ridiculous to get to look good." He laughed at me and slipped out of bed, leaving me there laying on my stomach and the light shining through the window warming my back.

"I wish I could stay in this moment forever." He said to me softly. I 'mmmm'd' back in reply. He put some sweats and a tee shirt on and kissed my neck. I'll be here at 7 on the dot to get you okay? I love you Kal."

"I love you Cole." I told him. He left and locked the front door with the extra key I gave him.

I laid there for a few minutes and decided to shower and get ready. By the time I finished curling my hair and getting my make up on it was 6:30. I checked my phone and started a message to Daz. _Daz…_ Oh my god. That's what I was forgetting. She never replied to my text on Thursday. She is one of those people that will always return messages within a three minute time frame. My heart started to race and I called her cell. It went automatically to voicemail. I tried her house number and no one picked up. '_Hey what time r u getting to the dance? Let me kno so me and Cole can meet u there k?' _I sat down on the couch and waited for a reply. A few minutes later my phone rang. It was Daz's cell number.

"Hello?" I answered hurriedly.

"Kal.." It was Daz's voice, she was crying.

"Daz? What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"I need to you to come out front." She was here? At my house? There was someone in the background but I couldn't tell if it was a man or woman's voice.

"Why are you here?" I had gone to the window and was looking out. There wasn't anyone on the street.

"Just come out. It's- it's an emergency." That was the last thing she sobbed to me. I dropped my phone and threw the door open. I was in heals but could still walk swiftly down to the driveway. There was an old beaten up car sitting where Cole's was not 3 hours before. _James…_ He was leaning against his car and Daz was raggedly sitting in the back seat, her hands tied together behind her. She was sobbing and had dried blood on her arms, neck and face. Her clothes were ripped and she was sobbing and saying 'no' over and over. I hurried toward her and James stepped in front of me and pushed me to the ground.

"It's about time we have a one on one talk sweetie." He had a horrific glint of pleasure in his eyes as he said this. Daz sobbed louder and louder, "Will you shut her up for god's sake! Jesus she is fucking annoying."

"RUN!" she screamed at me before someone behind her duct taped her mouth and they shut the back door to the car. James had turned around in just enough time for me to get up and bolt across the side of my house. He noticed and swore. I heard him start after me. I picked up two rocks and threw one. It hit his windshield of his car and broke through. I turned and kept running towards the forest behind my house. I stopped for a split second and threw the second rock at him with as much force as I could while running. It hit him right below the belt and he groaned.

"You little…." I heard him mumble.

"Someone GET HER!" I heard James yell at one of his friends. One of the guys raced after me. I ran into the forest and tried to go as quietly as I could. The breaking of sticks and crunching of leaves beneath my feet made me realize I really should've taken off these damn heals when I sprinted into the forest... But there was no way I could stop just to take them off now. I felt my body hit the ground before I knew I tripped and heard him coming up fast behind me. I rolled over on my back and looked up as I saw his shadow approaching me faster. I did not feel scared even though I know I should. I moved backwards, ignoring the pain of sticks digging into my back.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life you little bitch." I heard him mumble. He was close. Too close. My dress caught on something and ripped. I tried to slide backwards and pulled at it trying to rip it free as he got closer. I pulled off my heal and chucked it with as much force as I had lying there on the ground. I saw it sparkling in the moon light as it hurtled toward him. He caught right out of the air. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up and I knew my life was basically over. He stood over me holding my shoe in one hand and something bulky in the other. I saw him smiling like he took pleasure in what he was about to do. Which he probably did. He swung the object toward my head, a scream trapped in my throat, and then… total darkness.

My head was pounding. I was still in my dress, but my shoes were gone. I tried to go back to the last thing I remembered. Scenes came rushing back into my head and I remembered a rock being smashed into my skull. My head throbbed at the thought. I tried to reach my hand to touch where it was throbbing, but I couldn't. My hands were bound by some kind of rope and so were my feet. I blinked my eyes open and looked around but couldn't see much. It was dark. I could feel I was sitting with my back against a corner. It looked like a basement. I could see what looked like a staircase on the other side of the room with a door at the top with light streaming through the crack at the bottom. Something moved to my left and I looked over. It looked like an outline of a person, sitting in about the same position that I was; knees up, ankles bound together, and arms tied behind their back. I tried to say something to them but my throat was dry like I hadn't drank or had tried to use my voice in days. I cleared my throat and the person groaned beside me. It sounded like a girl.

"Hey?" I managed to squeak out. The girl didn't answer back. I sat there and tried to keep myself calm. _Cole…_ His face flashed through my mind and my heart ached. He probably didn't know where I was. We never got to the dance… If he had been there to pick me up just a few minutes earlier, I wouldn't be here. Then Daz's face flashed into my memory. _Oh my god…_

"Daz? Daz is that you?" I called out to the girl sitting next to me quietly.

"Kali?" she sniffled and I could hear the horror in her voice. We both started crying out of happiness, knowing we were both alright, for the time being that is.

"We're going to get out of here ok? We'll try to find a way out I promise!" I told her, trying to be hopeful.

"He killed Sara and Bella. He raped and killed them!" Daz sounded terrified and hysterical.

"Daz, you need to calm down. Being worked up about this isn't going to do anything. I need you to calm down and tell me what you know." I heard her sob and try to compose herself.

"God I hate this rope," she shuffled around a little bit, "they really suck at tying though." I heard her shuffle around some more and eventually I felt her hands around my ankles untying the rope. She got them undone and told me to lean down so she could get my hands. Once she did, I stretched out and flexed my hands.

"Keep the rope beside you. That way if we hear them come down we can quickly throw it back around our ankles. Don't worry about our hands, just throw them behind you and clasp them together. They won't come and check on us, they'll just flick the light on and make sure we're still unconscious. So pretend to sleep when I say so." She sounded calmer now, and seemed to know what she was doing. "By the way, your dress is gorgeous. I would've told you that earlier but I didn't have a lot of room to talk if you hadn't noticed." She had a little humor to her voice, which sounded a lot like the old Daz I knew.

"How did you get here anyway?" She sighed when I asked her this.

"Well, we had Wednesday off so I wasn't just going to sit around and do nothing all day. I wanted to go out and have a little fun so I went to the north side of town and met up with Jessica, Matt, and Brady," I knew the names and faces of the people she was talking about. Before we went to high school and started going our own ways, we made fun of them for being so preppy. She went on, "Anyway… There was a rave that night so we got all fancied up and stuff, and by the time we got there, it was in full swing. I didn't drink anything but water. I was dancing with Jessica when Matt came up and said that some guy was looking for me. I followed Matt and he introduced me to him. He said his name was Mason and he was really cute and complimented me the whole night. We danced and made out a bit and whatever and offered to get me something to drink. I was sitting on the couch about to text you when he came back with a bottle of water. He opened it in front of me and gave it to me, so I didn't think twice about it. That's all I remember. I woke up here in the same spot I'm sitting in now. 'Mason' came down and checked on me. I yelled at him and demanded to tell me what I was doing here. He drugged me and tied me up and threw me down here. I wanted answers. He backhanded me across the face and made my lip bleed. 'You're friends with Kali right?' He was looking for you Kal. He made me call my mom and tell her I was staying with you for a few days because your mom is out of town. I don't know how he knew that but I'm scared. He told me he would kill me and my family if he didn't tell me where you lived. I'm so sorry… I didn't know what to do!" she started crying hard. James was 'Mason'. That was obvious. The car following Cole around was one of his friends, trying to find more out about me. _But why does he want me…_ That was the only thing I didn't understand. I heard footsteps upstairs walking across the house.

"Shit! Ropes now!" Daz shuffled the ropes around her ankles and I did the same to mine. I grabbed the ropes for my hands and shoved them quickly behind my back and slumped back into the corner. The door opened and a light flicked on. It stayed on for about 10 seconds. I tried to make myself look like I was unconscious, barley breathing. When it flicked back off and the door closed I heard voices upstairs. "Nah dude they're still out. We need to wake the blonde one up soon though. She's damn hot; I wanna do something about that before we get rid of her." The rest of the guys laughed and I heard James' voice over all of them, "you're a damn idiot bro, but whatever, I just want the other one." Their voices receded into the background and what he said about me sent a bad taste to my mouth.

"How long do we have till they come back and check up on us again?" I asked quietly. She was quiet for a few seconds before answering me, "we have about an hour and a half… I think they're watching football or something." It sounded ridiculous to me that they could do that with two girls sitting tied up in their basement. I threw to ropes on the ground and stood up.

"What are you doing girl?"

"We're getting out of here."

Daz and I found a window that we might be able to squeeze through.

"Do you know where we are? Like where the house is?" I hoped she did. These boys were stupid enough not to check the windows. There was a lock on it but I picked it with one of the pins in my hair.

"Yeah, I think so. It's close to the burger place down here."

"The one on State and Thirteenth?" I asked her.

"Hmmmm, yeah right there on the corner." She told me this and relief flooded through my body. Cole's house was about a mile to two mile walk from here. Escaping was the easy part. Not getting caught was going to be more of a challenge.

"We _need_ to do this quietly Daz…" I boosted her up on my knee and got her through the window. She held onto my hands and pulled me through as the basement light flicked on.

"No!" I heard Daz hissed. She pulled me up to my feet and we heard the boys shouting in the house.

It was freezing outside. I couldn't tell what time it was and we were running at a dead sprint towards the direction of Cole's house. I prayed, _please God, don't let them catch us._

"Follow me and keep up. I don't need you being taken by them again." She breathlessly said ok. The houses in this part of town were older. They didn't have many fences so we darted through them. We heard a car start up behind us.

"Run faster!" All I could think of was thank you Coach Hanson for making us work out every day and run 2 miles every Friday. Daz did track so she was easily keeping up with me. The house where we were trapped in was about a half mile at the bottom of the hill that started up to Cole's house. We started running up, which was harder because it was up hill. It probably wasn't the smartest idea because they probably assumed this is the first place we'd go. We got to the top of the hill and saw Cole's driveway. We stopped running and looked around. There were two police cars sitting in it. I ran up to his front door and pounded my hands against it, yelling for someone to open up. Cole's dad opened the door and took one look at me. Without turning around he pulled Daz and I in and shouted, "Cole! She's here! She's right here! They're both here!" I ran inside and pulled Daz with me. She was crying. And I hadn't noticed how awfully beat up she was. She had a black eye and bruises around her neck and chest. Worse off than when she was sitting in James' car in front of my house. My Mom stood up from sitting on the couch. I didn't even see her car when I ran up.

"Mom!" I yelled and threw myself into her arms. She was bawling.

"Kali," Cole breathed behind me. I turned away from my mom and ran to him. He picked me up in his arms and held me close to him. I cried and cried and he kissed every part of my face. "I'm so sorry. I'm never letting you out of my sight again." He kissed me slow and it would have made me morbidly embarrassed kissing in front of my mom and his parents, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to be like this with him forever. I pulled away and buried my face in his shirt. He wasn't in his suit. It must have been days later. My mom came over and hugged both of us.

"How- how long have I been gone?" I asked between sobs.

"It's Monday night," Cole said into my hair. It was 2 days since the dance. I tried thinking of everything that had happened, and why I couldn't remember the day before. I felt my eyes get heavy, and I blacked out.

I could hear Cole talking to my mother. They were talking in hushed voices and were both sitting on the bed I was lying on. I didn't open my eyes; I just listened to their voices. _My two favorite voices in the world_, I thought to myself.

"I'm going to go finish the load of laundry downstairs alight? Let me know when she wakes up."

"Will do, Mrs. Norrison." My mom moved from my bed and walked out of the room. I opened my eyes and reached for his hands. He was about to call out to my mom that I was awake. I shushed him and made room for him to lie next to me. I looked around. I was in my bedroom and everything looked the same; except for the torn dress in front of the closet doors. This made a whole new rush of emotions go through me, and I groaned.

"Shhhh… I know, it's alright." Cole kissed my temple and ran his hands down my hair. I closed my eyes, turned into his chest, and buried my face there. He started humming the tune he played for me those few weeks ago in his bedroom.

"Sleep my love," he whispered into my hair, "We will talk when you wake up later." I thought of nothing except this moment, and Cole and I lying there together.

********1 Week Later********

"Good morning class! My name is Mrs. Harding," She scribbled her name on the white board, "I'll be teaching your class for the rest of the year! So let's jump right into this. We're going to start off on chapter twelve! Let's talk about abstinence!" She was a very loud excited lady, and looked like she wanted to relive the eighties with her hair and makeup choices. She took over Mr. Louis' spot after he quit unexpectedly, a few days after James was arrested. Mr. Louis was arrested. James and Mr. Louis had apparently worked together during this whole adventure and the investigation was still going on about why. I tensed up, I still didn't like thinking about it, especially if Mr. Louis actually had actually got to me. Cole nudged me from behind. I turned around and he smiled at me. Things couldn't be better between the two of us. My mom quit her job and started her own real estate company here in town, and Cole's parent's seemed to have gotten more comfortable with me. I would just have to wait to find out exactly why they were out to get me, but until then, I was going to keep my mind off of it. And I knew Cole would be able to do that.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Hope you guys enjoyed as much as I did writing it. There may be more... You never know.. If you want more, let me know! <strong>


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